Far beyond the mortal realm—beyond the waking world—lies a city built in ruin and fire. The sky above it is cracked like shattered glass, bleeding red light down onto black stone towers and molten rivers. This is Ashvyrn, the realm of the Forgotten Ones.
At its center, in a fortress of obsidian, a man stood motionless.
He was known only as Vaeric—The Ember King.
Cloaked in flowing robes that rippled like smoke and embers, his eyes burned with unblinking focus. A twisted crown of bone and flame sat upon his head, humming with cursed energy.
In front of him, a mirror made of dark crystal pulsed.
A figure emerged within it—blurred at first, then clearer. A woman with violet eyes and skin like midnight.
"She's awakened," she said in a voice like cracked glass.
Vaeric did not blink. "Sera."
The name rolled off his tongue like poison.
He turned away from the mirror and walked to the window of his tower, staring out over his crumbling city. "She remembers the Truthsong. So... the seal is unraveling."
"Shall I send the Shades?" the woman asked, her voice laced with eagerness.
"No," Vaeric replied. "Not yet. Let her think she's free. Let her believe she has time." He raised his hand, and a spark danced between his fingers—tiny at first, then growing into a sphere of black fire.
"She doesn't know the others are awakening too. And when they all gather..."
He closed his hand. The fire vanished.
"I will be waiting."
---
Meanwhile…
In the ruins of an ancient monastery deep in the mortal world, Draven, a rogue warrior with silver hair and a jagged scar across his brow, knelt before a glowing stone tablet.
He had once been Vaeric's most loyal general—until the Ember King turned on him.
Now, Draven followed whispers from the wind. Whispers that spoke of a girl who could sing reality into shape. A girl who might be the key to ending Vaeric once and for all.
He read the last words on the tablet aloud.
> "When the stars remember their voice, the flame shall fall."
His grip tightened on the hilt of his blackened sword.
"If that girl truly is the Starborn," he muttered, "then I need to find her... before Vaeric does."
---
Back in Sera's world...
She sat in a circle with her companions—Carter, Lira, and Juno—recounting what she had seen. The weight of her memory still pressed against her, but she was no longer afraid.
"What do we do now?" Carter asked.
Sera's eyes flared with something new—resolve.
"We find the others," she said. "The ones like me. The ones who've forgotten who they are."
"And then?" Lira asked.
Sera stood.
"Then... we burn the darkness out of this world."